Dallas Stars Blog

Stars facing tough times

The Stars were appropriately glum Friday after being officially eliminated from playoff contention. Last year featured a similar situation when they weren’t eliminated until losing the final game at Minnesota.

“It’s hard to get up today and come here and know the season is over,” said Ribeiro, in his fifth season in Dallas. “Another long summer and having to wait six months to start again. It’s been like that for a few years now.

“There’s teams that were out like a month ago. When you get to the end of the year and come up short, it gets harder and harder.”

Ribeiro said it could be an interesting summer with a new owner in Tom Gaglardi and free agency. While the center has another year on his contract, he addressed speculation he and the rest of the core group of Stars could be part of changes.

“Hockey is hockey, and I’ve been in rumors for the last 12 years of my career,” he said. “But anything can happen. I don’t stress. I’d like to be here — I like Dallas and stay here in the summer, and so, we’ll see what they want to do with me.”